First Words
by DNA-Do-Not-Abominate
Summary: The story of Ice Bear's first spoken words. A/N: You can read it as an episode from the beginning, or skip it and start from chapter 5, BUT don't skip ch. 5 and 6 if reading from the beginning. Chapter 5 simply provides no backstory to help rise some of the tale is all, and 6 continues on; I only did this due to length, and I wish for everyone to have a chance to read it.
1. Distraction

**Disclaimer: I Do not own We Bare Bears or the characters and seek no profit ; all rights, except my story idea/plot, belong to CN & Daniel Chong. I express Fair Use.**

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The first thing to be seen was a deep blue sky with some sparse clouds all around. It was dark, but not very much, and below the sky laid 3 baby cubs walking down a sidewalk along a street row of buildings. To the three bears, it looked like it was about 5 or 6 at night, but warm thankfully; if it were winter, the bears would not be as happy as they were now.

The three bears, Grizzly, the pack leader, Panda, the middle child, and Ice Bear, the youngest who never spoke, were all walking, completely oblivious to wherever it was they were going. The bears were in search of a place to sleep, after losing their box to rain damage, but the bears had no idea how bad the weather was in Santa Monica.

Suddenly, Panda looked up at Grizz and asked _"Grizz, where do you think we can get some food? I'm starving!"_

Grizz replied _"We're all starving, Pan-Pan, but there's not much we can do about it. We don't have any money right now"._

" _I know, it just sucks is all. I mean, why didn't anybody donate anything today? You played that harmonica of yours so well."_

" _You think?"_

" _I don't know. It just seemed like it."_ He said as he raised his right paw and looked at Ice. _"I'm sure you agree, right?"_

Ice was a mute and never spoke a word, but simply looked up at Panda and shrugged his shoulders. His grin only made him seem unsupportive to Grizz's music skills.

Panda let out a sigh as he stared back at the ground again and said to Grizz _"I just wish the world was a little more kind to us. It's one thing to live on our own, but to feel unappreciated and unloved? Sometimes I wonder if I'll just go to sleep and never wake up."_

Grizz replied _"DON'T SAY SUCH THINGS, DUDE! I know it's hard, but we are bears, and we can face any obstacle that stands in our way, whether it's finding food and shelter, or looking for a better life. We just need to think of something to pass the time. I heard that the less bored you are, the less hungry you feel."_

" _That makes sense, but what could we do to pass the time?"_

" _We could go dumpster diving again for some grub."_

" _We've been doing that for the last week though. I want something fresh, something that hasn't had a bite taken out of it nor has other garbage littered in/on it. Remember those pizza slices I found last time we did that? They were literally COVERED in MUSTARD! I don't like mustard and you know that. It was so disgusting having to eat that. I felt like I wanted to puke bro."_

" _Panda, you just gotta learn to take what you can get. Not everything will be perfect ya know, even the dream home or owner we have one day. Now, what could we do that will pass the time? Hmmm…"_

From a distance, a crier was shouting on a street corner _"COUPONS! FREE COUPONS TO THE SANTA MONICA PIER! Would you like a flyer, miss?"_

Ice and Grizz looked up as Panda was still hanging his head, until Grizz said _"Hey Panda, did you hear that? The man has coupons. I don't know what it is to, but there's gotta be something we can use. Come on!"_

Panda raised his paw as Grizz and Ice got a head start and said _"Grizz, wait up!"_

The crier was still shouting his promos until Grizz got to the man and said _"Excuse me sir. What are those flyers for?"_

The Crier replied _"Oh, these are promotional offers to the Santa Monica Pier, about the most fun attraction and touristing spot in all of town. There's rides, food, and fun, and it's only a couple blocks away lit-."_

" _Did you say food, and rides!"_

" _Why that's correct little man. In fact, take two of these flyers here. They're guaranteed to get you free admission to any ride at the pier."_

" _Cool! Thank you sir!"_ said Grizz, right up until Panda showed up behind him, panting lightly and said _"Grizz, don't just leave me like that man."_

Grizz ignored Panda and looked back up at the Crier and asked " _Um, could we get one more of those please?"_

" _Well I really shouldn't, but you three look like you've been through a lot, so ok."_ , and hands Grizz one more flier.

" _Thank you so much mister. Come on you guys, let's go."_

The Bears start running away, but Grizz comes back from off screen and says _"Uh, hey, where is the pier exactly"_ , chuckling lightly as if he were embarrassed along with his confusion.


	2. The Coming (of Darkness)

The scene now showed the pier off to a distance. It was bright, brighter than the sunset behind the pier. It was nearly gone, but still faintly bright out in the distance over the ocean. Meanwhile, behind the bears, the city was dark and the street lights were on. Panda looked glad to be out of the streets while Grizz and Ice were mesmerized by the aluminous glow of the pier.

Grizz looked at Panda and said _"Hey, Pan-Pan, check it out! Look at that pier. It's beautiful, and the guy back there said these flyers will let us ride all the rides we desire. Why aren't you happy?"_

Panda looked at Grizz and said _"I don't know. I guess I'm just more hungry than I am excited is all. Maybe dumpster diving isn't such a bad idea now."_

" _Panda, when was the last time you even had fun? You're being kind of negative and, no offense, but it really is not helping anybody. I know it's tough now, but you need to stay strong. You don't think I'm hungry, or he is? I'll tell you what, I'll see if we can trade our ride passes for food passes, somehow"_ as he looked away and faced the ground opposite of Panda.

" _Ok Grizz. Sorry."_

" _Don't be sorry, just be happy. Now come on, that place probably won't stay open much longer."_

The bears all started walking on the cement steps towards the pier, not much more than perhaps a couple hundred feet away from the deck. But Ice all of a sudden stopped while Panda and Grizz continued on w/o him. He could have sworn he heard something in the distance to his left. He looked over, pass the pier and out towards the ocean. Even though it was dark, he could tell something was wrong. He took a few steps in the direction he heard the noise until suddenly; he saw a rumble of light in the sky. He knew it was thunder, and where there was thunder, there lied danger. He figured it couldn't be that far from the pier and thought to warn Grizz and Panda, who he looked over towards as they were continuing on.

Grizz turned back and shouted _"Bro, come on!"_

Ice looked back at the thunderous sky as the rumble was heard again, but Panda and Grizz couldn't hear it over the sound of the rides. He started walking towards the others, still facing the ocean, but decided to not point out the weather. He realized that Grizz and Panda were going to be happy to be here, he did not want to ruin it for them. Besides, the danger was not present; they had some time before it would reach them, at least, that what Ice thought.

When Ice caught up to Grizz, he said " _Dude, why did you stop?"_

Panda told Grizz _"He's not going to tell you, why try?"_

Grizz gave Panda a stern look, but knew he was right and voided the question he asked. The bears took a few more steps forward before meeting the ticket counter guy. He was stationed in front of a table, no booth or glass, just him with a cash box and some tickets and flyers.

He looked down at the bears as they approached and asked _"Hello there. How many tickets would you like?"_

Grizz took a couple steps forward and spoke on behalf of the others " _We want whatever these flyers will get us."_

" _Ok. Let me take a look at them."_ Grizz handed the flyers to the man at the table and he replied _"These flyers will get you guys 5 tickets each and, depending on the rides you choose, should let you ride 2 or 3 of them."_

Grizz replied _"Ok, great. But, um, is there any way we could get food tickets for those?_

" _Sorry little dude, but that's not how it works. You can see if one of the customers or patrons will exchanged your tickets for food, but uh, fair word of warning"_ said the man as he lowered himself closer down to Grizz's height. _"Those tickets have a value of about $2 per 5 pack, so don't let anybody try to scam you guys."_

Grizz smiled and said _"Thank you very much"_ as he was handed 15 tickets, broken up into 3 sets of 5. Grizz gave two to Ice and Panda and they continued into the pier.

The man said _"Enjoy the rides!"_ , but suddenly received a message on his walkie from his boss, who yelled over the walkie _"Yo, Jackie, come in, you there man?"_

" _Hey Sir, I'm here. What's up?"_

" _I'm gonna need you to stop taking tickets from people. Weather-Watch-Watch says there's gonna be a storm coming in and, depending on if it arrives here or not, we may have to close the pier."_

" _Ok then boss, will do."_ The ticket counter guy said as he pulled out a closed sign from under the cash box, tied it around the table, and took the tickets and flyers and packed them into the cash box. He then grabbed the box and walked away from his booth, leaving just the table and the sign alone.


	3. Fun's not Forever

The scene cuts away to the bears from an overhead shot as they walk down the boardwalk of the lit pier. The bears all look around in awe and happiness, something they have not felt in a good while. There were tents with games and attractions, lights that illuminated the wood from above, a Ferris wheel that looked a million feet high to the bears, and vendors selling food that the bears only ever dreamed of and never thought existed. Cotton Candy, Elephant Ears, deep fried candy bars, and so much more. Panda and Grizz's jaws lay open and Panda's was watering and drooling like crazy. Ice Bear only looked up and said nothing, not even so much as flinching, but one could tell he had to be happy; he was just more concerned about that storm coming in, but _not now_ he thought, _not yet_.

Grizz broke their silence and said _"Ok brothers. We each got 5 tickets to go do whatever we want. What should we do first?"_

Panda replied " _How about the bumper cars?"_ as he pointed to it just straight down from him. _"I always wanted to know what it was like to actually drive."_

Grizz said _"No problem, we can totally do that. Does that sound good to you man?"_ as he stared over a Ice Bear, but Ice shook his head no and pointed to the Fun, Fun House of Crazy from the opposite side of the bumper cars. Ice wanted to go inside and see the mirrors and things that lied in it.

Grizz looked up at the structure and shrugged his shoulders, saying _"Ok then. You go do your thing then. We'll wait for you when you are finished, sound good?"_

Ice once more gave no reply and only blinked, turning his body and walking away, like he was annoyed by Grizz or something.

Grizz let out a sigh and looked up to Panda from behind him and said _"Sometimes I worry about him."_

" _How so"?_

" _I just don't think he's ever happy, Panda. All we ever try to do is help him and he never even so much has said 'thank you'. I get that people go with the flow and all, but it's sometimes hard to tell when he even think of us. He's just so distant that it worries me is all."_

Panda and Grizz started walking towards the bumper cars, and then panda responded and explained _"I think he is just upset is all. We live on the streets, beg for our meals, and people barely recognize us. Tell me you are not depressed about our situation to the point where you look down on life so much that you feel like you can't go on?"_

Grizz looked back at Panda, who both were now in eye contact with each other. _"Things might not seem fair, but one day, everything will be ok. When we are older and stronger, people will not disregard us, they will want to be our friends. It's only a matter of time is all."_

" _Well I wish time would go faster! I am honestly more worried about how he is going to react. It isn't healthy to keep all that depression and anger bottled up like that. One day, he may go bizzerk and hurt someone just for ignoring him. Maybe he doesn't want our help. Maybe he just wants to live on his own."_

The Bears are now approaching the bumper car's line and Panda finishes by saying _"The least he could do is talk to us or tell us what is wrong. How are we suppose to know what to do when he won't even TELL US!?"_

Grizz wanted to defend Ice, but knew he was right. Ice Bear clearly had problems he kept to himself and only through communication could Ice get better. If Ice did not want to speak, then Pan and Grizz couldn't help him.

Grizz stubbornly and sadly replied as he looked down from the line they had just approached _"Maybe he doesn't want us to help him. Perhaps he blames everyone for whatever it is they did to hurt him … but why?"_

Suddenly, a loud CLANK got the bears attention and they looked in the direction of the sound to find the bumper cars have stopped. The attendant said _"Thank you for riding the bumper cars. When the vehicles have come to a complete stop, you may exit to the opposing end of the area. Thank You."_

Grizz, in a desperate attempt to change the subject, nudged Panda's shoulder and said _"Look Bro. Were next."_

" _Thank the stars"_ , Panda replied.

The line moved quickly as the people walked for the next seats. The ride attendant asked for the demanded tickets and repeated this to all those in front of the two little bears. Panda and Grizz were up next and the attendant looked down on them and said _"Because you guys are too short, you will both have to ride a cart together. Is that ok?"_

Panda and Grizz looked at each other in some disappointment, but knew it would still be cool to be a tag team, and looked back at the man and said _"Totally."_

" _Ok then. I'll need 6 tickets please."_

 _Panda shouted "6! But the sign there says 3."_

" _Yes, but that is per person. There are 2 of you guys, so I need 3 tickets each."_

Panda said _"But were only riding in one car. You expect us to pay double for one car? That's not fair!"_

" _Sorry little dude, but that's the rules. You can either pay the fee and ride together or go find somewhere else to spend those tickets."_

Panda wanted to speak, but Grizz pushed Panda aside and said very quietly _"Let me handle this."_ as his brow lowered and his eyes squinted. He stared up at the attendant, not afraid of his height or authority, and said _"Listen Mister! Three tickets should get us to ride one ride, not one person. You might as well charge people a ticket-and-a-half to ride those rides if you think we are gonna get scammed like this. We've lived on the streets long enough to know when we are getting screwed over, and buddy, you are a con-artist!"_

Grizz then turned to the crowd of people and shouted _"Hey, Everyone, this man is making us pay twice as much to ride one car w/ my brother. How unfair is that?!"_

There was a murmur in the crowd that slowly escalated to shouting towards the attendant. He raised his arms to try and tell people to stay quiet and explain why the bears had to pay for each other, but got a soda thrown at him, to which he reacted _"UGH! Dude, disgusting! So not cool."_ The attendant knew that if his boss saw an angry crowd, he could lose his job, and surrendered to the bears' request, but not before telling the crowd _"OK, OK! Fine!"_ He stares at the bears, still dripping from the thrown soda and said "That will be 3 tickets please."

Grizz, with a smerkish smile on his face, tore off 3 tickets from his strip and said _"Thank you, good sir."_ He then walked onto the track with Panda following behind him, not having to pay his fee; thanks to his older bro.

Panda said silently _"Wow Grizz, that was so cool."_

The attendant, with a somewhat unhappy and angry tone in his voice, said over the megaphone _"Please keep all arms and legs in your vehicles at all times, and try not to hurt anyone please."_

The bears had fastened their seatbelts as Grizz took control of the wheel from the left side and Panda on the right, who did not mind that Grizz was the driver. Suddenly, the ride was online, and the bears were moving. Grizz and Panda laughed as they were driving around, bumping into the people who helped them get on the ride.

Meanwhile, Ice Bear has just paid the Ticket Counter at the Fun, Fun House of Crazy and entered through the hollow rectangular opening. He first came upon a set of Crazy Mirrors, four depicting different forms of the baby polar bear. The first one showed him taller, the second depicted him as flat and laid out, the third made him suuuper fat, and the last one actually showed a real-looking polar bear cub, all of which Ice Bear ignored and faced straight on.-(This part is unimportant and I didn't feel like explaining the entirety of the inside of this ride :)

After exiting the seemingly-lame, bean-shaped doorway, Ice proceeded towards the bumper cars, where he intended to meet up with Grizz and Panda. He could see them just off in the distance. It looked as though they had just gotten off and were happy and smiling; they were even high-fiving each other. It made Ice bear a little happy to see Panda happy, like he had completely forgotten his hunger, but Ice bear could feel his all too well.

As Grizz and Panda were celebrating their fun time on the bumper cars, Grizz saw Ice bear just to his right and shouted _"Hey man, how was the ride?"._ Ice bear did not respond. He merely looked at Grizz and Panda without saying a word. Grizz looked a little uncomfortable but quickly changed the subject. _"Well, what should we do next guys?"_

" _I think-"_ Panda responded, but was quickly interrupted by the static of a radio at a green stand up tent next to the bumper cars ride. The static was blared and high pitched, so loud that it caught the Bears' attention. The attendant of the green tarp, a man in his early forties wearing an orange shirt, blue jeans, and a red baseball cap, was pounding on the radio from behind the counter. As people walked by, they seemed as uninterested in his cheap game-stand as Ice Bear was with the Funhouse.

The man muttered somewhat loudly _"Come on you stupid… Why aren't you working?"_ as he was slamming it on the top and side of it, until eventually, the static halted and a speaker returned. _"Finally!"_ the man shouted somewhat angrily, yet impressed by his crude repairing of the machine. He turned the volume up and turned his back on the radio to attend to his stand. He was blowing up balloons with his back facing the Bears, who walked over to his stand to see what the woman on the radio would say. They never listened to the radio much, let alone even see what is on T.V. most of the time, wandering the streets, more concerned about what they will eat rather than find on a speaker.


	4. Goodbye, Ice Bear

" _This is… reporting liv-…This is a weather warn-…to all who are listening."_ The woman said, as her voice was being drowned out by forces the bears did not understand. They turned their heads up to listen to the woman. _"We are receiving reports that Santa Monica will be experiencing heavy winds and thunderstorms heading our way. For those who are outdoors, find shelter in the inner city. For those indoors now, board up your windows and doors, because this thunder is expecting rain, and lots of it people."_

Panda and Grizz were shocked to hear this, realizing they were close to the coast, yet Ice Bear walked over to the corner of the tent-tarp to his right, investigating how close the storm was to the bears. When Grizz saw Ice was not near them after looking at Panda, he turned to where Ice was and grabbed Panda, walking towards him.

" _Hey bro, what's the probl-ohh man!"_ Grizz said, looking in the direction Ice faced. Panda followed with a gasp, but Ice remained level-headed. Before them laid that black, rumbling mass, but closer. So much closer. It was so near to them that the thunder sounded like a bomb exploding off at the bumper cars beside them.

Grizz shouted _"We have to get out of here, NOW!"_ , but Ice grabbed Grizz, who still held Panda's paw, and they ran straight out into the center of the boardwalk. Ice to the right, Grizz in the middle, and Panda to the left, all staring straight down at the entrance/exit where they came from. The green tarp was to the right of Panda, as he looked over and saw the orange shirt attendant grab a silver box with his stealing of the people's money. He unfolded the awning outside the front of the tent to close his booth and make sure the cheap toys and prizes would not be ruined. The ropes would hold the tent down during the storm, one for every corner of the tent. Across from the tent laid a gap and the bumper cars, which were definitely closed and dark inside. Not a single car was active from what Panda could see. Over the Boardwalk from the tent and cars laid the Fun, Fun House of Crazy, but that seemed unimportant.

Grizzly said, trying to recover his lead of the group _"Ok Guys, we just need to run across the boardwalk, and we'll get into the city, and wait out the storm. Got that?"_

" _Ok"_ Panda responded. Ice, of course, said nothing. He realized Grizz wanted to be the leader again, and decided to let Grizz take the first step, but they were all thrown to the ground by a gust of wind from their left. The Bears came tumbling down like dominos, and suddenly, just as they recovered their balance and Grizz asked if everyone was ok, it happened again, only this time, it was worse. They all lost their grip and went flying through the air, only about a foot above the deck, but still impressively high to them. The bears went tumbling in different ways towards the walk-way gap between the tent and the bumper cars. As the bears were rolling like marbles, Grizz managed to grab hold of the upper lining of rope between the tent and cars. Panda grabbed hold of the iron spike that held the rope down on the wood. He held it by one paw, unlike Grizz who grabbed hold of his rope lining with both, but Panda, as weak and young as he was, managed to brace the winds and pulled himself and his other arm up to the spike's head, securing his grasp and place.

Halfway between the wood and the height of the roof of the green tent, Grizz looked beside him to his lower left, looking down at where he thought he heard Panda shout when he grabbed the spike. He squinted his eyes to protect them from the wind and saw Panda, crying to him in desperation _"Hey Pan-Pan, Where's our other brother? Is he alright? Are you?"_

Panda replied _"I don't know. Also, yeah, I think"_. The Bears looked around the best they could. Behind them, around them, until suddenly, Panda's eyes grew wide and he shrieked a horrific gasp so loud, Grizz would have to be deaf to not have heard him. Grizz looked at Panda, then in his eye-seeing direction, and beheld an unsettling sight that shocked him as it did Panda. The storm grew fierce as the bears were all being dragged by the powerful winds, but Ice Bear was in the greatest danger of all as he held on for dear life on the wood railing of the wall of the pier. Ice Bear's paws wrapped firmly around the upper angle of the square-shaped railing, but his entire body was hanging off the edge of the dock. Legs flying, head tilted up, and danger that seemed far more present than Panda and Grizz were in.

" _Brother, its ok. Just hang on!"_ Grizz shouted at Ice Bear, but at that moment, the rain came pouring, and fast. The water hit Grizz and Panda, who were already soaking from the rain, but the water loosened Ice's grip some, however, Ice Bear was smarter than nature. He retracted his claws out to the wood to tighten his grip. The Bears seemed confident everything would be ok now, even as this precipitation was washing over them. Suddenly, just after the Bears sighed a breath of release, of all horrible things to happen, a lightning bolt struck the power box to the pier, shutting all power and lighting off. It was dark now, almost so much that Grizz and Panda could barely see each other, being closer to each other than Ice was to them. Panda screamed in horrible fear of the sudden darkness, as though death had come for them all.

" _Panda, we're fine!"_ Grizz said, trying to calm down Panda, which made him stop screaming, but crying could still be heard from him. Grizz wanted to calm him down, but knew Ice was a bigger priority at the moment.

" _Are you still there, Bro?"_ Grizz shouted, concerned and scared as his his tone of voice showed, shouting in Ice's direction. There was a moment of silence, and Grizz squinted his eyes to try and make out Ice, yet found nothing, even with his fur as white as snow. It was only after a lighting strike that revealed what Grizz saw in fear and despair. What beheld him was Ice Bear, still miraculously holding on, but slightly elevated higher than before. He was losing his grip, as the curling of the wood on the railing was seen in this flash of a scene. Ice Bear looked worried and scared, but said nothing, not even responding to Grizz's next shout at holding on or Panda still crying and so scared out of his mind to even speak or look at his younger bro. Slowly, Ice Bear was shown to be losing his grip, with every bolt of lightning revealing to Grizz and Panda more and more of Ice Bear's near suddenness of eventually flying away into the darkness of the storm. After the third or fourth strike, Grizz grited his teeth together and his lips extending a huge grin, showing all of his teeth as he saw Ice finally lose his grip. In a last ditch effort however, he digs his claws straight into the top of the wood plank, eyes opened and scared as living Hell at what will happen when he loses his holding.

Panda was still too scared to look, but knew Ice was in serious danger when Grizz shouted _"Brother! Don't go!"_ It was pointless though. On the last and final strike of lightning, Grizz saw Ice Bear lose all contact with the wood and saw him fly though the air, neither elevating nor depressing, but simply was thrown off the side of the pier like a big wad of white spit in the eyes of nature.

Grizz shouted at the top of his lungs, echoing through the entire dark and abandoned pier _"BROTHERRRR! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_ Panda was too upset to even respond to Grizz, knowing full well what happened to cause him to shout so loud as Grizz's feet were still hanging in mid air and Panda himself still belly on the ground, both being bullied by Mother Nature.

Ice Bear was no longer was on the pier, and Grizz started to tear, crying now alongside Panda as the storm (coincidentally) was dying down now. The cries were unheard as the bears were all alone on the pier. Yet slowly, as the minutes went by, Grizz's body was lowered and he was finally able to touch the planks again, restored by gravity (he thought). He was still tearing, but wiped his tears away now that he had a free paw, yet still hung onto the rope with his other, fearing the worse.

He wiped his tears away and nudged a face-planted, arms-stretched panda cub, saying _"Panda, the storm is dying down. We need to go *sniffle* and find our brother."_ Panda still had his face buried in the wood, arms stretched up and holding onto the spike still with all his might, which was now not much from what Grizz could see, kicking his arms and losing his grip almost instantly. Grizz sighed with anguish at Panda and stubbornly picked him up over his shoulder, carrying him down the gap between the tent and cars, as the Fun, Fun House laid towards his walking direction. Grizz was clearly strong and it was no wonder he was the older brother, as he turned the corner around the tent, making his way down the boardwalk towards the city yonder. With Panda over his shoulder and tears still running down his eyes, and even after being thrown against the forces of Mother Nature, he somehow found both the physical and emotional strength to forge onward off the dock in search of his younger brother along the sandy shore beneath his feet.


	5. Finding Ice Bear

As Grizz walked along the sand searching and crying for Ice Bear, Panda curled up in a ball by a patio chair on the beach over the situation he endured. The storm and experience had clearly taken its toll on Panda. It was night now. Dark and pitch, with only the full moon overhead to light the area for Grizz now that the pier was dark also.

" _Broth-eerrr."_ Grizz shouted everywhere, looking around in desperation to find him. _Who knows where he is now?_ That was all Grizz could think to himself as he looked everywhere for him. He was scared not only for fearing Ice Bear was gone, but possibly even dead. It had been an hour already and still there was no sign of him. Grizz knew that if Panda would smarten up and realize his brother's in danger more than him right now, he would have better odds at finding Ice, but Grizz figured Panda was in a critical state at the moment. _Better Panda be ok for later than let him think his possibly only other brother is a jerk forever._ This was what he thought as he bowed his head down to the sand and sighed in sadness. He had given up in his search for Ice Bear, realizing he was gone and felt like copying what Panda was doing.

However, just as he began to curl himself up in a ball, he saw a glimmer of white in the ocean, shining thanks to the light of the moon. It was the belly of something white in the distant. _It could only be him!_ , thought Grizz. He did not even bother telling Panda as he ran out towards the ocean and into the water. All that was heard was the sound of splashes and panting as Grizz swam out to the ocean to grab hold of what looked like Ice Bear. He swam and swam, as hard and fast as he could, panting and running out of breath with every stroke and gasp of air he took. He was not a graceful swimmer, but being very young, he never really learned how to, other than watching others do so at lakes and ponds in the woods.

He eventually paddled his way to the white object in the distance of the ocean, which was revealed to be Ice Bear, but it was his back that laid up, rather his face was planted into the water. Grizz desperately turned Ice over on his back so he could see his face and let him breath, but nothing happened.

Grizz pulled Ice Bear's head up towards him and said _"Bro?"_ in a very concerned, frightened way. He was shocked to realize Ice was not responding and instinctively, without even second guessing himself, clenched his teeth on Ice Bear's fur and skin and started attempting to swim to shore. It was amazing how much adrenaline had to be running through Grizz for him to possibly swim to shore while clenching Ice Bear with his mouth.

Pulling him by the neck, he had reached the edge of the shore and shouted _"PANDA! I FOUND HIM! GET OVER HERE!"_ after dropping Ice Bear. He continued to drag Ice up and onto the sand as Panda looked up from his ball-state and wiped away his tears.

" _wait. You…you fouND HIM?!"_ Panda said, elevating his voice best to his ability.

" _GET OVER HERE, DUDE!"_ Grizz remarked, not even hearing what Panda said. Panda did as Grizz instructed, got up, and began running towards Grizz and the unconscious Ice Bear. Grizz had just made it pass the water shoreline when Panda finally caught up to Grizz, panting some, but nowhere near as hard as Grizz was.

" _Brother? Brother, wake up!"_ Grizz told Ice as he grabbed him by the shoulders and Panda, who stood behind Grizz on standby and concerned as well, holding his paws up to his mouth in trembling fear and anticipation.

" _Bro, you need to wake up, NOW!"_ Grizz said to Ice Bear as still held him, shaking him by his shoulders.

" _Do CPR"_ said Panda reacting. _"Just push on his chest and breath air into him."_ Grizz did what Panda said and put both his paws on Ice's chest after laying him down.

He then thrusted his weight to his arms and onto Ice Bear, saying as he pressed _"Come on, man. Breathe. 1-2-3-1-2-3."_ His voice started to quiet and faded out as the compressions on his chest continued _._

" _Breathe man, breathe."_ said Grizz, who's voice was slowly slipping away.

[the entire screen fades into a bright white color as we focus on an unconscious, possibly dead Ice Bear. We zoom in on his face as the screen grows more white and Grizz's voice is drowning out.]


	6. Inside the Quiet Mind

Darkness laid everywhere, void of all other color and feeling. The place was bleak and dull seeming as Baby Ice Bear came wondering in, questioning where he was. He looked around, as if confused and uncertain what is going on. All he does is walk, instinctively believing that, somehow, walking seemed better than just standing around. Maybe he thought he would find a way out, or maybe find something to help him escape. The last thing he could remember was Grizz shouting at him. Trying to recap this memory, he started thinking about what happened afterwards. He remembered sand, a loud thunk, and the breeze blowing him further away from the pier.

Out of nowhere in the distance, He heard Grizz's shout _"BROTHEEERRRR!"_ he turned his head to the left where the noise was coming from and beheld the scene where Ice went flying away from the dock. It was a rectangular video image that was about 5 ft. wide by 3 ft. tall, hanging in mid air amidst all the darkness. Ice Bear quickly figured it must be a memory and realized he was in his own head. He then quickly concluded that if he was here, his normal body outside must be in danger. Fearing he might be dead, he quickly started running in the same direction he continued on as the memory square slowly faded away behind him.

More memories came along towards him as he was running to almost nowhere. He could hear his brother's voices, speaking in situations he remembered they were all in at a certain part of their young lives.

" _Booxxeeeeeess"_ he heard and saw Grizz and Panda say as they, along with silent him, hung over a rail inside a building. It was the time baby Grizz, Panda, and Ice was stranded in the middle of a desert after "Granola Guy", a scruffy hippy bandit, stole their beloved box. Their eyes on the screen in his head as it flew past him were wide and mesmerizing. He directed his attention away from the memory to his right and tried to continue on running, but then came another one from the left again.

" _That's cool, buddy. You do you."_ said Grizz inside the pet shop that the brothers were all once adopted in. It showed him hanging up his "iLUCHA!" poster after expressing his future on The Vision Wall of their pen. It had other pictures on it of what Grizz and Panda wanted, but Ice Bear's stuck out the most in all its blue and Mexican glory. Ice Bear saw the memory, but thought nothing of it as he continued to run, hoping to somehow escape his mind, but as soon as this memory faded away in the distance, Ice Bear was stopped dead in his track after feeling something that he had not felt or seen in a long time. In the distance, coming straight at him and not off to the side above him, there were little pellets of white dust that blew near him as he was running and, after coming up close enough to feel what it was pass him, he knew it was snow. The brisk coldness of white engulfed over him as the little flakes went overhead and around his body, bringing him to an instant stop after feeling the cool sensation overwhelm him. He turned in the direction of the blowing snow, with him as still as snow laying on the ground itself, feeling connected to it and impulsed to follow it, no longer caring about his escape. Yet there he stood as he saw the snow quickly shoot to the upper left of the black room. He followed it's movement with his head, bobbing in different directions as he watched the snow flow so gracefully in the sky.

Suddenly, almost without even feeling it coming, more snowflakes came from behind him. An even larger swarm then the dust in the air already, the cold was even greater in it's overwhelming of Ice then before, almost making him want to smile, but he didn't. He was too stunned by this weird stunt of flowingness in the sky going up, down, left, right, and looping over and around each other as the snow mass grew bigger and bigger, still moving over Ice's backside. When the snow was all finished moving around Ice, the last of the flakes joined the blizzard-looking form of gravity-defying snow, and almost instantly, in the blink of an eye, expanded itself out into one large square. Every flake occupied a small space as the snow stretched itself out to be (what looked like to Ice Bear) 70 ft. wide and 50 ft. tall. The white, dusty square was enormous and made Ice Bear look so puny and small under its rectangular power. The baby bear was surprised by this, still standing up and felt like he was meant to see what this box might be. He did not know if it was a memory or just something else, but its power was too great for baby Ice bear to ignore. He had almost completely forgotten that Grizz and Panda were outside him, trying to help revive him. He was nervous and scared, but stayed quiet and calm as he waited for something to happen…and by golly, something did.

The noise of what sounded like feet moving through snow came into the void of blackness, faint, but hearable for Ice. The muffling of the snow was perplexing to Ice Bear, but he realized it had to be coming from the white screen. He immediately noticed a blizzarding sound that was clearly snow blowing through this mess of white. Ice Bear could still not make out what it was making this snow-fluffing noise though, but he knew that whatever it was, it involved being in a blizzard of snow. Then, further off in the distance of the white, there came into the picture a faint, slightly blackened half-circle. It looked more like a shadow than anything, but it came closer into sight as the figure was moving closer to it through the snow, which Ice Bear now realized was suppose to be from a 1st-person perspective. Slowly, the half-circle grew darker and slightly larger, but it was still too blurry and far for Ice Bear to make anything of what he was seeing.

Ice Bear lost focus of the image however, as the screen jerked away to the left. In the direction, voices were heard, faint like the shadow, but clear enough to be heard.

" _Do you see it John?"_ said one man, who sounded burly and rigid, like a motorcycle rider.

" _No, Bill, I don't. I think it was in this general vicinity though."_ expressed the other, who sounded, not as tough, but more commanding.

" _Well keep looking. We are not leaving until we grab it and bag it. That creature will fetch us big dollar when we get back south."_

" _Let's just hope the cub is still somewhere around here also. He'll be worth even more."_

Suddenly, Ice Bear's eyes widened and came to realize what this was. The very thing he was looking at was the one memory he never wanted to see or think about for the rest of his life. His jaw still closed, but his eyes: huge and enormous, like he has seen the face of a deity or something so unbelievable, he was stunned and scared all at once. He continued to listen to the voices on the screen, unable to do anything for the moment.

" _This Blizzard came in fast, didn't it?"_

" _Tell me about it."_ said the 2, as they both started to come into the picture. The 2 were further away from the half-circle and not as dark as it, but they were coming closer and grew darker and darker with every footstep.

" _It's like, one second; we get the perfect shot and the next-WAIT! Look over there, I think that might be it John."_ said this mystery figure named Bill. The 2 ran towards the ball, shuffling snow underneath them, and the creature that watched them, laying only perhaps a few hundred feet away from the round shadow, stepping back some as though to get ready to protect himself.

Ice Bear could still not take his opened eyes off the white screen of figures and noise and continued to watch on. The character Ice Bear saw all this happen to was stepping back, looking like he was ready to run, but that half-circle must have drawn a deep connection to him, as the character on the screen stayed and only watched the figures grow larger and darker.

" _I think that is it, boss. I can see some fur being blown up by this wind, even with the snow storm."_ said one of the guys as they reached the round shadow.

" _That's it alright. Looks like we scored big…but not enough. Where's the child?"_ said the other guy.

" _Bill, we don't need the cub. The mom here is going to be more than enough."_ said John

" _Oh yeah? Well then, just look over there and tell me what you see."_ said the man named Bill, who extended a shadowy arm out from his side and back in the center of him, showing he was pointing in the direction of the cub.

Ice Bear from off screen reacted when the man pointed towards, not only at this creature on screen, but Ice Bear as well. His arms went out, still pointing down at the ground, his mouth opened slightly to show he was scared, and those huge, beady eyes still wide open. Ice had finally broken his stare at the screen, closed his eyes and raised his paws over his ears. He had enough of looking at this scary sight, but it was pointless. Even though he was trying to tune out the sound, it still penetrated him and he could still hear everything that was going on, ironically even louder than before.

[Back on the screen,] the human figure grew closer to the cub, with every step in the snow only growing menacingly louder. There was more to be heard, as metal, clanking back and forth, hit each other over and over, creating a sound that was imagined to be chains and knives.

Suddenly, the man, who was now close, black, and dark, pulled out a rod that he flung open with one shack of his arm and said in a dark, deep, demonic voice _"You're going to fetch a pretty penny, little one.",_ doing the unthinkable. The creature in the video tried to stand up in the blizzard and growled at the man as though he were warning him, ready to hack and slash with all his might. But the man pushed a button on his rod, creating electricity out the other side of it, and swatted the creature with it, electrifying him and making him growl in pain and suffering. The cries echoed through the blizzard of snow and everything became a blur in the eyes of the animal. He was still awake, but barely able to see, looking only out towards the half-circle shadow that lay a hundred or so feet away.

(If only it had a weapon at the time to defend himself (and the ball-shaped figure) with, like a hatchet or some nun-chucks.)

The other man was there beside the circle, coming out from behind it after going unnoticed by the creature, and said something that was unreadable from the distance. Bill however, the man who hurt this bear, started walking back to John and shouted _"John! Get the cage from the truck. I'll trap the little one, you tie up the dead one. We need that one alive if we are going to make anything off of it."_ The man did as he was told and faded away into the blizzard, disappearing for only a moment and then returning to Bill with a cage, and some rope.

As the man walked back with the cage, that clanking metal sound even louder than before, Ice Bear tried even more desperately to not listen or look at the screen, tightening his arms around his head even more than before, having his right paw cover his left ear, and vise-versa. He cringed his teeth together like he was in pain and was trying not to cry, but the sound only persevered through Ice's ear drums as the metal sound of a door opening on the screen could be heard. Then, what the man said next released Ice's grip of himself and made him look up on the screen once more in fear. The demonic voice was simply too powerful for him to ignore.

" _You're coming back to the States with us, and your momma…She'll make a good rug or jacket for someone real nice."_ said the evil, scary human named Bill as he looked into the unfocusable eyes of the creature he shocked, picking it up and throwing it in the cage. All that could be seen now to the poor, hurt animal was a blur of grey and white as the metal bars and snow blurred his vision. The last thing he was able to understand before passing out was the sight of the other man named John, tying up his dead mother's arms, her blood overlaying a small, but noticeable pile of snow that lay under the hunter. The screen went black, with only; the sound of the cage slamming onto a metal bed, the door to a vehicle, still outside in the snow, slamming shut, and the engine, after only a couple minutes of silence, starting up and beginning its journey to these so called "States". This was all the bear was able to remember just before falling asleep.

Right after, the screen went from white to black, the snow dust that occupied this section of the mind exploded into a million falling snow flakes that landed on and around Ice Bear. He was star-stricken by the memory, crying and tearing like no one had ever seen him do before. He was devastated, scared, and in emotional agony over what he had seen, curling himself up into a ball, sitting down with his arms crossed over his knees and his face buried into them. In the darkness of his head, all that could be heard was that of Ice Bear's crying and sniffling, but no shouts or screams to give off an amplification of his voice. Little Baby Ice Bear just sat there in the dark, crying over the painful memory he saw. It was sad to see such a lonesome creature in pain as it wallowed and whined. But suddenly, without expecting such a quick action, the lonely cub looked up from his cross-armed positioned, magically realizing the message of why he was shown this heart-pulling memory, and experienced a sudden epiphany. He sniffled some and wiped away his tears of pain, almost releaved by this compelling experiencing of sadness he has endured, but got up on his legs, wiped away the last of his tears, and clenched his paws, wanting to go back to Grizz and Panda. He had not forgotten about them, or himself for that matter.

He opened his eyes, looked out into the distance, and ran. Ran harder than he has ever tried before. He knew not where he was going or how this would work like when he first came, but he was willing to try anything to escape.

Next thing he knew, he heard Grizz's voice again, fainly shouting " _brother…Brother…BROTHER!"_ getting louder and louder as Ice Bear continued to run to wherever the voice was coming from. He ducked his head into a charging position and in an instant, without even realizing what he had braced for, he crashed right through the blackness, ripping a hole into the siding, and fell out of sight.

[Instantly, there is a flash of white light that brings us back to the face of unconscious Ice Bear, with Grizz shouting even louder than before from the outside.]


	7. Epiphany

" _Brother! Brother, wake up!"_ shouted Grizz as he was now pounding on Ice's chest, beating him instead of performing CPR in the middle of the moonlit night. He pounded with his fists, left and right, rhythmically. _"Wake up! Wake Up! Please Brother, Whake-uh-uh-uh-up!"_ He was now whining as he started crying for Ice, thinking he may be truly dead.

" _Grizz."_ Panda said quietly from behind and a little afraid of what he might say, _"I think he is dead. I'm sorry."_

Grizz bowed his head down and continued to cry, and with one last ditch effort, shouted at the top of his lungs _"BROTHER, PLEASE! DON'T GOOO!"_ and slammed his entire right arm on Ice's chest. In that one instant grand slam, Ice Bear miraculously coughed, first lightly, then harder and harder, flopping himself up and down like a fish as he did. Grizz inhaled loudly, shocked to see that he unbelievably brought his youngest brother back to life. Panda was too shocked, but made no sound as he stood behind Grizz. Ice Bear used what little energy he suddenly recovered to turn his body on his side, making it easier to cough up the water that was enclosed in his chest. He then used that force to roll himself onto his knees, paws dug into the sand, jerking his head back and forth to get what he could out of his lungs. Grizz tried to take a step closer to Ice Bear, but Ice Bear raised one of his paws as he continued to cough in agony and made a stop signal to Grizz. It was clear he needed his space and, though Grizz and Panda were concerned, they understood what he need, and continued to watch him in suffer.

After what seemed like forever, Ice was finally slowing down and was able to breath better and somewhat more proper for almost being dead. When most of his coughing stopped and his breath was recovered, he found the strength to stand up, nearly falling over, but was ok. Grizz and Panda just stood there, happy he was ok, but felt awkward after watch Ice Bear like they did. Panda rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as Ice turned towards Grizz and Panda.

Grizz managed to gather the words and strength to speak and break the silence now that Ice was quiet and they were all staring at each other. _"Uhm…hey. Are..uhh. Are you…ya know? Ok?"_ Ice Bear responded by simply shooting his paw up for the second time at Grizz. Ice Bear knew he what he had to do, but found it incredibly hard and impossible. He started sweating and cringing his body, looking like he had to use the bathroom. He closed his eyes in this state, and Grizz and Panda: all they did was watch him in discomfort. It made no sense to them that he was like this. _Could it be some kind of shock from nearly dying? What's wrong with him?_ they thought.

Then, Ice Bear stopped and took a deep breath, calming his nerves and state of mind. He opened his eyes and looked back at Grizz and Panda and, thinking hard and deeply about how they might respond, he slowly and ever so carefully unclosed his lips. they puckered out weirdly in a position that was creepy looking, followed by a heavy exhaling of breath. It was followed by a quiet sigh and not a grunt or moan. The breath was heavy and deep as Grizz and Panda just stared at their brother in confusion. He did stop momentarily, as this was to try and "exercise" the vocal cords from within. Then suddenly, Ever so quietly and faintly, Ice Bear opened his mouth once more and spoke in a raspy, irritably deep and monotonic way

 **A/N: (Play Locked Away by R. City, as though it were part of an episode; Trust me.)**

" _Ice…Bear…is ok."_

While not much, the words left Grizz and Panda in shock, eyes opened and arms raised.

" _Oh my gosh! You…you SPOKE!"_ shouted Grizz in absolute amazement.

" _I don't believe it!"_ said Panda as he looked at Grizz, then Grizz at him, then both back at Ice Bear. He was clearly embarrassed for startling them, but remained calm and leveled as always.

" _BUT…but why? Why are you talking to us now Bro- , I mean… Ice."_ said Grizz, both surprised and confused.

Ice Bear tried as best he could to sum up what would be best in what little was necessary. He then responded seconds after, talking raspy and unpracticed at first, but slowly becomes more normal and pitched as he went along.

" _Ice Bear… realizes life…is too short. Ice bear has long hated world for what is wrong. Ice Bear, however, cannot stay mad. Not forever. Ice Bear…loves Family. You are Family."_ he finished, pointing towards Grizz and Panda.

It brought Grizz and Panda so much joy to hear Ice Bear say such warming words that they did not even care how he referenced himself. They ran to him through the sand and Grizz grabbed hold of Ice Bear around his chest, with Panda running up from behind to complete the trio's hold. They were sobbing and crying, but these were tears of joy and happiness, smiling and laughing, but crying also. Ice Bear's arms were wide open as Grizz and Panda hugged him. He was hesitant at first to follow them, but slowly, he placed them down around each other. His right arm on Panda and his left on Grizz. They buried themselves into Ice and the hug circle. Ice Bear rested his head on Grizzs.

[The camera stares right up into his face, his eyes closed and grinning] Ice Bear releases a single tear from one of his eyes and smiles, happy to feel such compassionate love from his siblings. He felt appreciated for the first time since he lost his mom, and it made him feel special and beloved. The tear ran down his cheek and onto the curl of his lip, the tear following the direction of Ice's smile.

[The camera does an overhead shot of the bears all hugging each other under the night sky. The camera looks up towards the full moon, and all that is heard is the crying of happiness in Grizz and Panda into the baren night sky and moving oceans below. The screen grows black.]

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed my story, and sorry for any misspellings or incorrect writing/punctuations. Chapters 6 and 7 were stuck in my head for days and I had to write them; I checked as best I could for incorrections, but will continue to try and do better. Here's to future storys of WBB, not just by me, but the entire community! WE ARE NOTHING W/O EACH OTHER!**


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